Without a Thought
by MineUnfaltering
Summary: Chamber scene from The Science in the Physicist. What was Brennan thinking as she reached for Booths hand?


Okay, I know I should be working on Don't Ever Doubt but these last few episodes won't stop playing in my mind, and I have accepted that I won't be able to write more until I get this and a few others out of my mind.

So here we go, this is my contribution to The Science in the Physicist, because seeing Booth and Brennan holding hands in that chamber still makes me squeal.

* * *

_Think_, Brennan commanded herself as she looked on in horror as the door slammed shut, sealing her and Booth within. Think. She was too surprised to say anything when Booth first tried to slam open the door. It was pointless, even his strength wouldn't get them out.

Trying to maintain a semblance of calm, she tried to explain that to him but was cut off by the sound of a switch pulling._ Oh, god_.

"Oh, no." _Think, Brennan, what do you do now?_

"'Oh, no' what?" Booth asked.

"We have to get out of here." Brennan said trying to come up with a plan that would save them. She had to think quickly she knew what was coming and she knew they wouldn't last long once the frequencies started to sound. She needed to come up with something before it was too late.

"We have to get out of here or what? We'll explode?" Booth asked, his voice rising with worry.

Brennan didn't have time to answer. The sharp noise filled the chamber, piercing her ears, making her head throb, and her body bend in pain. Terror took hold, terror because she knew what would happen to them next. The sound made it hard for her to focus, but as forced her self to recall all she knew about sonic standing waves.

Failing against the wall she fought for control, she watched helplessly as Booth fell too, groaning in pain._ No, not helpless. You can do this you can think of a way to escape, to survive. That is what you are good at. Surviving and thinking._ She could process this, her brain wasn't pudding yet; her brain would get her out of this mess. Thinking was what she did, and she did it very well. She only had a second, but that was all she needed to recall what she knew about counteracting sonic waves.

"Booth, what we have to do here is we have to try and counteract the wavelength."

"The what?" Obviously he didn't take her meaning, but she didn't waste time with more words instead she showed him. Still trying to find a way to get out, knowing that her idea would not save them, just give them time to think. She just needed to think but the pressure was overwhelming. Beating at her from all sides, Booth wasn't having any more luck than she as he tried to imitate her siren sounds.

"It's not working!" Booth shouted above the noise. Brennan knew he was right, but it was their only chance, they had to keep going if she was going to come up with a way to save them. Try as she might though she couldn't come up with anything, she felt her legs grew weak, the noise piercing not just through her head now but through her whole body.

This wasn't supposed to happen this way. She'd always thought if one or both of, them were going to die on the job, it would be because of a Booth thing. Like getting shot, being tortured, kidnapped, attacked with some sort of weapon by another human being. She had always thought if one of them died it would be because someone was stronger, quicker, fast. Never had she though she would die because she couldn't come up with a solution, because she couldn't think.

No her thoughts, her mind, was what she lived by. It couldn't fail her.

"If we stop our brains will turn to pudding." Brennan shouted back, her legs finally giving out as she slid to the ground trying desperately to hold on to her sanity. This scared her like nothing they had experienced before. With every other dangerous situation they had been in, she had held on to some hope because she could still function, and if she could think than she could come up with something, do something that would help. Using her brain was what had saved her from dying in that car with Hodgin's, it was what had allowed her to stay calm.

She needed to do that now. She continued to scream, but she could tell it wasn't working. She felt the pressure more forcefully, as it pounded through her skull. She felt a trickle run down her nasal cavity. Looking over at Booth she saw that his nose had begun to bleed too. It was too late. She was too late. Her brain would fail her. It had failed her. She couldn't save herself, and she couldn't save Booth. She had failed. He had needed her to save them this time they were in her element. Science. They were surrounded by science, and she had failed to get them to safety.

She tried to apologize, but she couldn't form the words, the pressure was too much. She closed her eyes as she hit the floor trying to work up the strength to fight. For the first time in her life she there was no more strength to find. She tried to think but couldn't manage. She felt a weight settle over her body, crushing her with its force, yet it didn't hurt, she felt curiously numb.

It broke her heart to feel Booth continue to struggle next to her. He was still fighting, even though it was pointless. He fell back next to her, hitting the ground with a thud but he continued to struggle. He probably thought she was unconscious. That bothered her more than the thought of impending death. She didn't want him to think he was alone in this that she had left him. She wanted to tell him she was there, but she couldn't form the words, her jaw too slack, and her tongue too heavy. So she tried to reach him the only other way she new how.

Calling on everything in her she tried to move her right hand, using the numb weight of her body to move her closer to him. She tried to reach out to him, to hold on to him, let him know that she was there.

She wouldn't have been able to reach him, not on her own, but she felt Booth move too, reaching for the same contact, for the same reassurance. Even though he probably thought her unconscious, he still made the effort to reach her, to hold on to her, to let her know _she_ wasn't alone, and that he hadn't left her, that he wouldn't leave her.

Moved by this final action of theirs that had to mean something, yet would never come to anything because they were going to die there, Brennan tried to convey everything she'd ever felt for this man who was beside her even in death, in a final touch. She squeezed his hand as hard as she could. Brennan focused everything she had in that moment, feeling the darkness begin to consume her as she finally began to slip into unconsciousness.

She didn't know if he felt her squeeze, but it was the only thing on her mind at the moment, all thoughts were gone, and she just was. No more thinking. Not even as Booth suddenly reached for his gun and fired three times. She knew it was useless, but she also knew he had to try.

He fell back after his effort, it had stolen the rest of his strength. He movement however pulled his hand from hers slightly, and she mourned the loss, fighting weakly with the smallest movement of her hand to maintain contact. She wanted to rage at the injustice, at her failing mind, but she couldn't. Instead she did the one action that took no thought at all and held onto her partner.


End file.
